BREAKING: Ariana Grande to headline Lollapalooza 2019

With Coachella booking Ariana Grande for its 2019 installment, due to Kanye West’s sudden drop off from the Indio gathering, it may seem like Lollapalooza is taking a cue the premiere spring time festival. But that’s only if you’re looking on the surface.

In an unexpected leak, multiple sources tell Variety that Grande has already been booked to headline Chicago’s Lollapalooza, and the deal was made before her sudden Coachella billing in April. Discussions took place for the Chicago-based event much earlier than the California festival, where published reports indicated that Grande’s camp got the official invite to headline Coachella only days before the lineup was announced.

Given her commercial gravity this past year, it seems Grande is a perfectly suitable choice for festivals like Lollapalooza and Coachella — both of which began as alt-rock fringe festivals but have since gone the way of popular music. The Lollapalooza lineup isn’t usually announced until the third week of March, so no official confirmation of Grande’s headlining appearance is expected for months.